Hmm I see.It is surprising that people like steam so much, when steam is basically an extra DRM layer for games already with GFWL etc.And yet pc gamers shrug at DRM.I can't say for anyone else, steam was and is still a pain in my ass

Da Orky Man:Out of those three, who would you be most likely to visit the pub with?

You make a good point.

OT: I don't like Valve but I can see why people are so rabid about them. They actually interact with the comunity and seem like a nice bunch. However, Steam is a piece of shit so take that as you will.

Personally, with the exception of Portal, I've never enjoyed a Valve game. And I take any and all measures to avoid using Steam.

That being said, I don't have anything against them. I don't think I have any kind of distaste for any game company. They're all Ok in my books and just because their games don't appeal to me doesn't mean that I get to mark them down as evil or moronic.

Also, I tend to be rather resistant to publisher business practices.

What's that BioWare? $10 DLC pack that goes with this game I bought? I'll stick with the game itself, thanks for asking though :D

Hey Blizzard, you want to sell me a spectral mount? No thanks, I'm gonna keep having duels with Swifty.

Ohai Valve. You want to sell me hats? Do I look like an idiot to you? Who buys a virtual hat? And I don't even have Team Fortress 2, so I don't know why you're asking.

Hey Bethesda. You want me to activate this game through Steam? Give me a second while I modify this disc I bought so I don't have to do that.

They owe their success to a range of things. Initially it was just good game design. Then, it was great treatment of customers. Innovation in the disribution of games a.k.a. Steam. So on, and so forth. If I were to put it simply and generally, I would say it's because they care much less about the money then other companies (and therefore, care about much greater things).

And you know what? It's fucking great. They deserve to be even bigger too. More power to them...

I like Valve because they're more or less enabling me to pay off my student loan debt, something that I thought would take years longer or my whole life to do. The whole idea with the TF2 store is pretty clever and rather generous of them, I never expected that.

Valve seems to make mostly FPS type games. Not really a huge fan though I logged in a few hours playing Half Life 2.

Their games are very nicely polished which is something any consumer should appreciate. The reason I love them and keep going back though is Steam. They were the first to my knowledge to come out with a unified package for purchasing, downloading and organizing games while unifying with a nearly unobtrusive DRM all under one desktop icon. There is a reason why Steam has nearly killed brick and mortar stores. They just offer more, better, faster service than any real store can give. They did it first, and after a rough launch, did it best. They are also one of the largest platforms for indie distribution I have ever seen.

They absolutely deserve to have the strong position they currently have. As long as their business practices remain as they are I approve.

I live in fear of what may happen if a prick like the head of Activision or EA takes over though. they have a virtual monopoly and gaming may well receive a death blow if other publisher heads ever get control of the company.